Towson at Kansas coverage

Kansas defeats Towson, 88-58

Final: Kansas 88, Towson 58

By Matt Tait

They scheduled a basketball game and a dunk fest broke out.

Behind a fast and furious first half in which the Jayhawks pushed the ball in transition better than at any point during this young season, the Kansas men's hoops squad buried Towson, 88-58, at Allen Fieldhouse and improved to 4-0 overall, 1-0 in the Battle 4 Atlantis classic.

Andrew Wiggins, who scored 14 first-half points on 6-of-7 shooting, led the Jayhawks with 16 points and 7 rebounds (4 offensive) in what turned out to be a very efficient night. No question Wiggins could have scored much more, but given the way the Jayhawks ran in transition and the talent of the opponent, he simply did not need to.

Andrew White III (13), Perry Ellis (10) and Wayne Selden (12) all reached double figures, as well, and the Jayhawks turned the lights out on this one early in the first half, taking a 49-16 lead into the locker room, after closing the half on an 18-0 run.

Many of the Jayhawks first-half points came via the slam dunk as Tarik Black, Joel Embiid, Ellis, Selden and Wiggins each threw down multiple dunks of all varieties.

KU shot 60 percent for the game (44 percent from three-point range) and held Towson to 37 percent while outrebounding Towson, 40-28.

Second-ranked Kansas improved to 4-0. Towson fell to 3-2.

Here’s a quick look back at some of the action:

• The game turned when: It started... Towson was overmatched from the jump and the Jayhawks jumped out to first-half leads of 17-7, 27-12 and 31-16 before leading 49-16 at halftime.

• Offensive highlight: It really isn't fair to pick just one, so we'll go with all three monster dunks that came in a span of 1:34 to kick this one off. The first came from Tarik Black, who picked up a steal near mid-court and then punished the rim with a one-hand rattler over a defender who refused to commit. Seconds later, Wayne Selden hit the rim even harder with a two-handed flush in transition that ended with him raising his head above the rim as he landed. On the next KU possession, Naadir Tharpe found Black for an alley-oop which he caught with one hand and flushed it after fully extending his arm over a Towson defender. The impressive stretch put KU up 11-5 but Towson probably felt like it was 40-5.

• Defensive highlight: Let's keep the theme of a three-for alive, with a series of first-half swats from Joel Embiid taking this category. All three came in different manners. The first was the result of Embiid stepping up to meet a driving Towson player at the free throw line. The second was off of help defense that started the break. And the third came when his man tried to beat him with a baseline drop step that Embiid was having nothing to do with. All three were clean, full-hand swats that merely fueled KU's first-half onslaught.

• Key stat: Transition points. From start to finish, the Jayhawks sprinted up the floor on offense whenever possible and that led to Kansas outscoring Towson 29-8 in fastbreak points (at one time it was 29-2). Much of the relentless pushing of the pace led to dunks, but even when it didn't KU typically got to the free throw line or got a good look at the rim. If these guys can comfortably play like that night in and night out, they're going to be scary for nearly everyone they face.

• Up next: The Jayhawks head for paradise and continue play in the Battle 4 Atlantis challenge when they face Wake Forest at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) in Nassau, Bahamas.

Like every year, t I disagree with this perception that upperclassman get the benefit and can screw up without penalty yet young guys get yanked at every time during the first mistake. Old guys that play get the benefit of the doubt because they are better. Young guys that aren't quite that good, get hooked when they screw up. It's simple. You're good enough, you get the benefit - see Wiggins, see Ben, See X. Not quite there yet - see EJ, see Tharpe (last year), see Mason now. It's not rocket science.

I see, I missed that that segment of the debate. I apologize. I think it's just that thing Self does. He doesn't pull his upper class men. I don't know if that's what you said, but usually he lets his older guys hang through mistakes. I guess normally because they are less inclined to let the mistakes build.

I'll jump in on this. How about last game where Tharpe had for more assists? The point guard isn't a stat heavy position. You can't determine how good a point guard is by looking at stats. Why? The point guards job is to get the offense in a flow. While Mason has been great, he isn't the guy to get our offense in set and make it move. He is very good at driving, but sometimes he is just to over aggressive. Tharpe does a much better job at establishing the flow of the team. He might not get an assist or the points but his decisions lead to easier decisions for the other guys and that's what a point guard needs to be able to do above all else.

Russell Robinson started in front of Sherron in 2008. Stats would argue against that move. I'm willing to give HCBS the benefit that maybe he has a much more introspective look at what works for our team.

PG mistakes will always be to the detriment of the team, but I really don't see where he has much choice in the matter...

But I have seen him pull Tharpe and Mason after consecutive plays though, and that's reasonable. But there's a lot of value in making them play through some errors too. I'm just always against the knee-jerk coaching when it comes game time. It's detrimental to games when you're in-game to jerk players around like that. What do they learn? They get punished, but the psychology of when you go back out on the floor after that is not positive motivation -- it's hindering to you playing like you can/should. You're playing not to make mistakes, not to take risks, not to lose. You don't take the good confident risks you should.